


Rinse and Repeat

by Triscribe



Series: What-If Star Wars AUs [10]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Fluff, Everyone Needs A Hug, Finn Needs A Hug (Star Wars), Fix-It of Sorts, Groundhog Day, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Really Character Death, POV Finn (Star Wars), Pre-Relationship, There's A Tag For That, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26579164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triscribe/pseuds/Triscribe
Summary: Left alone in the shuttle, FN-2187 yanks off his helmet with shaking hands. It is the eleventh time he’s done this.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: What-If Star Wars AUs [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1788598
Comments: 12
Kudos: 234





	Rinse and Repeat

**Author's Note:**

> WHAT'S UP SEQUEL TRILOGY FANS, ARE YOU READY TO FACEPALM WITH ME AT THESE DORKS
> 
> You may notice this is my first true foray out of Clone Wars territory, because as far as I'm concerned the sequels are a hot mess that keep getting worse with each addition, and I have no intention of bothering to watch the Rise of Skywalker ever thank you very much. That said, Finn and Rey swiping the Falcon is a f a n t a s t i c scene, and Poe giving Finn both a name and his jacket are a level of shipping most romances can only *dream* of achieving.
> 
> I have a little more written for this, but dunno if I'll get around to posting another chapter or not, we'll have to see how well this one is received. And if anybody tries to shoot me over that hot mess comment. x'D
> 
> Enjoy!  
> -Tri

Left alone in the shuttle, FN-2187 yanks off his helmet with shaking hands. It is the eleventh time he’s done this.

-R&R-

The events at the village on Jakku - _thankfully_ \- only happen once. When everything resets, 2187 comes back to this moment: the seconds after Captain Phasma’s departure, when it all just becomes _too much,_ and he needs a breath of air not recycled through his helmet’s filters.

On his second time through the day, the original repeat, he reports straight to Reconditioning and informs them of it, despite not having a clue what occurred to cause the phenomena. He’s sent through standard procedure regardless; they simply _don’t care_ that he might be losing his mind. The third time, he keeps quiet, shuffling through the halls, and winds up taking a blaster bolt to the gut for his trouble. For the following repeats, he chases after Captain Phasma to warn her about the captured rebel’s attempts to escape - she doesn’t believe him at first, but with the next go-round he anticipates her exact words and manages to convince her. Finn ends up being front and center in an ambush, witnessing as the man kills himself rather than be taken alive again.

The sixth time, he simply stands by, not warning anyone, to watch the rebel slip his bonds and run again, and realizes: the other man _does something different._ He _avoids_ the place Phasma set her trap the previous repeat, and makes it a whole further ten minutes before being caught and dragged to Kylo Ren’s interrogation room.

2187, at that point, determines he may not be the only one reliving the same twelve hour stretch.

He continues to watch; not just the rebel, but everyone else too. The techs on the floor, the pilots moving in and out of the hangars, the officers in the observation booths. He goes through the day differently each repeat, paying attention to each second, each choice, each footstep, before he hits the twelve hour mark and returns to the shuttle. At the start of the eleventh time through, 2187 decides to make his move.

It’s ridiculously easy, grabbing the rebel, who by this point has resigned himself to holding off any escape attempts until after his interrogation. The change clearly surprises the other man, enough that he lets 2187 pull him along until they reach a reasonably private closet.

“Where the hell did you come from?”

“I’ve been here,” 2187 answers in a rush, taking off his helmet so the rebel can meet his eyes. Maybe, _maybe_ he would listen, and believe, and they could both get out. _Please._ “I’ve been watching, and it’s no good trying to get out on your own, but I think I know a better way.”

“You’ve been- watching,” the older man repeats, blinking rapidly. “You’ve _been_ here? How many times?”

“This is my eleventh.”

“Shit. Same as me, then. Are you with the Resistance?”

“No,” 2187 admits. “But I want out. This isn’t- it isn’t right. And whatever’s happening, with the repeats - I don’t think there’ll be any answers here.”

“Yeah,” the rebel tiredly agrees. “Well, I dunno if there’ll be any with my people either, but- looks like we’re in the same boat, regardless. Want to figure it out together?”

Something surges inside of his chest, and 2187 nods as firmly as he can.

-R&R-

It takes them another two tries to successfully get a Tie-fighter out of the hangar - stupid cable locks - and a third for 2187 to figure out how to operate the weapons system. On their fourth attempt, Poe finally introduces himself, and moments later, well. A name is the nicest thing Finn has ever gotten.

Dying by laser cannon blast isn’t especially fun, but even so, he’s still grinning when he goes to retrieve Poe again and make for the hangar once more.

-R&R-

On their sixth try, the Tie makes it far enough to crash to Jakku’s surface. And Poe is gone.

Finn sits on the sand and waits, but the twelve hour mark comes and goes. He shakes once he realizes this might be it - he might not reset by dying again. He wants to try, wants desperately to go back and try again and make it all the way with Poe, a man he barely knows but already recognizes is- is _important,_ in a way Finn can’t describe with words.

But the twelve hours are gone. So he stands and stumbles his way into the desert, a patched brown synth-leather jacket slung over his blacks, pieces of white armor left far behind.

-R&R-

He reaches civilization, such as it is. Dunks his head in a water trough, no matter how scummy. There are suddenly the possibilities of options, ways to get off-world, to find somewhere so remote and distant the First Order won’t arrive until long after he’s dead and dusted.

There is hope.

There is also a skinny girl fighting off a pair of thugs with some _very_ well-placed hits of her staff. Finn finds himself watching, inexplicably, up until the moment her white and orange BB unit looks at him, and then the girl glares at him, and then Finn is running.

She catches up anyway.

-R&R-

When the Tie-fighters scream overhead, Finn and Rey take off running, BB-8 zipping along at their heels. The whole trading post is taking hits, scavengers and junk dealers scattering in all directions. Screams echo in his head, pounding between his ears, and Finn tries to push himself a little faster, just a little farther, just to get to the ship ahead-

A blast hits the ground directly behind him.

And Finn yanks off his helmet with shaking hands.

He blinks, stunned, before scrambling to get his feet under him. Moving at a normal pace through the halls is hard, harder than all the times before, but he manages. He doesn’t draw attention to himself. He makes it to the interrogation room, and Poe’s eyes light up before he hides the expression, and soon enough they’re back in the original closet and Poe grabs Finn in a hug before the latter can even get his helmet off again.

“Buddy, I am _so_ glad to see you,” the pilot mutters in his ear. “I didn’t think- it went longer this time-”

“Wait- you went- but you were- the wreckage!” They pull back from each other, equally surprised.

“You survived the crash?” Poe asks.

“Yes! But you- I didn’t see you,” Finn manages to say, something uncomfortable catching in his throat.

“Well, that’s probably not surprising - I know I got thrown clear, went straight into a sand dune and had to dig my way out. When I looked, I only found your helmet, slagged from the blast-”

They both stare for a long moment, before choking out identical, not-really-laughs, and hugging again. And that’s when another pair of stormtroopers find them.

-R&R-

“So where did you go, anyway?” Poe asks, after they’ve reset again, and actually gotten all the way to the Tie without being found and shot.

“Across the desert - I found a trading outpost, and there was this girl- Oh! She has your droid!”

“What?”

“He recognized the jacket I was wearing, and they tried to beat me up before I could explain, but he’s okay and she wants to help get him to the Resistance!”

“Finn, that’s great!”

And it _stays_ great, because they crash the exact same way, but this time Finn goes digging and actually finds Poe, and they set out across the sand together. Pieces of white armor come off faster, and the rebel thinks to bury each one as they go, so no one follows the direction of the trail. He also, for whatever reason, decides to sling his jacket over Finn’s shoulders. When the stormtrooper blinks at him, the man just shrugs. “It suits you. And looks a little less conspicuous, y’know?”

Finn keeps walking all the way to the outpost with a warm feeling tingling inside.

They both drink from the scummy water trough, and when the thugs attack Rey and BB-8, Poe doesn’t hesitate to charge in as well. Finn makes himself follow, delivering a final knock-out kick to one of the guys Rey knocks down, and then finds her alternating staring between him and Poe.

“You weren’t here last time,” she says, puzzled.

That causes the two of them to kind of freak out, and they pull Rey into a more or less private spot, BB-8 beeping happily as he circles around his pilot.

“How many times have you gone through today?” Poe demands.

“Four, including this one,” she replies, looking torn between taking a step back and leaning closer. “You’re Beebee’s master?”

“Yeah, Poe Dameron, I’m an agent for the Resistance. I also seem to be reliving the last sixteen hours or so on repeat, along with my partner here.” He catches Finn’s eye, and smiles slightly. That gesture, plus the word ‘partner’, make it a bit hard for the stormtrooper to concentrate for a minute. “We’ve gone through this almost twenty times now, trying to escape from the First Order. Can you help?”

“Of course I can,” Rey replies, eyes gleaming. “There’s a ship we can take, Finn and I were almost to it the time before last-”

She cuts herself off, glancing at the sky. A moment later, Finn can hear the incoming engines. Another moment after that, they’re all off and running.

Maneuvering to get to the promised ship without being blown up again _should_ be easier the second time around, but then Poe suddenly skids to a stop, turns, and races towards a different vessel - the garbage ship Rey had dismissed before. “Poe! What are you-!”

“Trust me!” The other man shouts, and for all that he likes Rey, Finn turns as well. BB-8 is already ahead of him, zooming up the ramp, but once he’s there Finn can’t help but pause and turn, catching a glimpse of the desert girl reaching their original target-

It blows up in a massive fireball, Rey’s slim figure engulfed in a split second.

Poe yells for him, and Finn finishes rushing inside.

Up in the cockpit, the rebel is scrambling to get everything up and running, and despite the seriousness of the situation, there’s a massive grin on his face. “Finn, buddy, do you know what this _is?!”_

“No?”

“The Millennium Falcon! This ship is _the_ Millennium Falcon! I got to ride in it a couple times when I was a kid, I sat right back there in the navigation seat-”

“Ever been in the _pilot’s_ seat?”

“Well, no, but I can fly anything - just give me a second- there!” The engines lurch to life, and a moment later they’re lifting off, Poe wincing as he reaches, strains for something on the co-pilot’s section of controls. There’s fresh blood staining the side of his torso. “Okay, same deal as before, I need you on the guns!”

Finn does an about-face, ready to do whatever’s needed, only to stumble as laser fire shakes the ship. Poe yelps behind him, and a moment later the entire vessel tilts. Finn’s thrown off his feet, landing headfirst against the floor that should be a wall. He tries to roll, to adjust, to get back into the cockpit where Poe is swearing up a storm-

The ship tilts again, hits the ground, and something erupts.

-R&R-

Finn jerks upright with a gasp.

He’s not in the shuttle, yanking off his helmet. He’s in the desert, next to a burning Tie-fighter, still wearing his soot-streaked armor. Gaping, it takes him a minute to get back in gear, to run towards a particular dune on the far side of the wreckage. He claws at a dent in the sand, particles getting caught in the seams of his armor plates but he doesn’t care, he doesn’t _care-_

Poe’s head emerges with a cough, and Finn laughs.

-R&R-

Rey and BB-8 are waiting for them outside the outpost this time.

Finn can’t help but run right up to her, the droid whizzing past to collide with Poe’s shins. “Are you okay-?”

“Why didn’t you follow me?” The girl demands, face stiff, arms crossed.

“I don’t- Poe went- he said the garbage ship was-”

“The Millennium Falcon,” Poe says, coming up to join them, BB-8 chirping at his heels. “How long has it _been_ here?”

And just like that, Rey’s expression does a complete one-eighty, her eyes lighting up. _“That’s_ the Millennium Falcon? Han Solo’s ship?”

“Oh good, you’ve heard of it. Any chance we could swipe it _before_ the First Order gets here?”

They’re already sneaking up the ramp when engines whine over the outpost. Finn goes straight for the chutes for the gun turrets, while Poe and Rey practically race each other to the cockpit. BB-8 does the sensible thing and launches out a set of grappling lines before any of the dramatics start.

-R&R-

Apparently Rey bullies Poe into the co-pilot’s seat due to his injuries, which means _she’s_ the one responsible for spinning them _through the husk of a star destroyer._ Finn feels equal parts exhilaration and terror, and hollering is all he can do when he finally takes out the last Tie pursuing them. There are similar shouts and whoops from the cockpit as he makes his way back up the ladder, BB-8 beeping cheerily at the top.

“Finn, buddy, that shot was _perfect,”_ Poe enthuses, clapping him on the shoulder with one hand even as the other presses close to his side. “And did you _see_ that slingshot maneuver this girl pulled off? She’s almost as good a pilot as I am!”

“Almost?” Rey challenges.

“I mean, I definitely could’ve done the same if I wasn’t, y’know, beat to hell and back at the moment.” Finn registers the fresh bloom of red at that point, and proceeds to drag his friend into the ship’s small medbay. Rey whacks the medical droid in a couple of precise places to get it to power up, while BB-8 rolls around their feet - not getting in the way, but very much making his presence known. Poe puts up token protests until he’s actually laying down, and then the adrenaline is obviously gone, because he conks out almost instantly.

-R&R-

When Poe next wakes up, it’s because the whole ship is shaking, and Finn and Rey are locked in a hissed argument as they stand in front of the sealed medbay door.

“W’azzit-?”

“Pirates,” Rey states tersely, fingers flexing on the grip of her staff. “Probably.”

“They caught the ship in a tractor beam,” Finn adds. “We’ll- hold them off-” _Some way_ , he doesn’t say, but they’re all thinking it, all wondering _how._

But when the door is yanked open, it’s not pirates. It’s an old white-haired human with Corellian bloodstripes on his pants and a wookie with a bowcaster. Poe nearly passes out again from sheer relief.

-R&R-

Finn doesn’t like the rathars. He doesn’t like the rathars _one karking bit,_ and even that drops further when he wakes up back on the Jakku sands _again._

-R&R-

Third time’s the charm.

Rey and BB-8 don’t wait for them at the trading outpost; rather, the Falcon comes to a rough stop directly in front of the two escapees at the halfway point of their trek through the desert. Finn and Poe gratefully stumble aboard.

“We are _not_ leaving the ship this time,” Rey demands as they get Poe settled in the medbay again, despite his protests that he’s not as bad off anymore. “Those thugs can _have_ Solo’s rathars.”

“Not arguing,” Finn agrees wearily.

There’s no panicked hiding in the medbay, either. They wait directly in front of the airlock doors, and as soon as Han Solo and Chewbacca make their entrance, Rey demands the pair take them to the Resistance.

Solo blinks at her. “Sorry, can’t help you.”

They tell him about the map to Luke Skywalker. His eyes close, pained, and explains he can’t because he _can’t._ He isn’t part of a Rebellion or a Resistance anymore. He’s just a smuggler who’s learned better than to give free rides.

“But you’re supposed to be a hero,” Finn presses.

There’s... hesitation. Poe chooses that moment to stumble out of medbay. “Would be good if you could, sir. The longer I go before getting back makes it less likely the General won’t take my head off when she sees me.”

Solo blinks again, before he’s cursing and pushing Poe to sit down in the nearest seat. “Kriffing hells, Dameron, you look like the wrong end of a thermal grenade.”

“Yeah, well, your kid doesn’t exactly play nice anymore.”

That earns a flinch, and Solo kind of roughly/gently shoves at Poe’s head. “Alright, _alright,_ fine. We’ll head to Takodana to refuel, and then-”

An alarm beeps from something on his belt. He curses again and starts to head for the ship’s exit, only to stumble as the Falcon moves. Finn glances around, realizes Rey disappeared as soon as Poe showed his bruised face.

“What the- hey, I gotta get back out there-”

“No you don’t,” Finn says. “That alarm’s for intruders on your other ship, right?”

“Yeah, but I can’t abandon my cargo-”

“Forget the rathars, this is more important.”

Solo stares at him, something stern emerging on his face that makes Finn instinctively stand at attention, hands clasped to keep from shaking. “How do you know-?”

“Because we’ve been reliving this same karking day over and over,” Poe grumbles, head tipped back to rest against the back of his seat. “S’only the second time we’ve gotten far enough to meet you, but I’d like to get a little further along before we reset again, thanks.”

The older man’s face falls, and he groans. “I hate the Force.”

That makes Finn frown, and Poe picks his head up curiously. “Wait- you know what’s going on?”

“Called it a Do-Over Day, back then,” Solo grumbles. “Dunno if Luke ever figured out a better name, or if any of the old Jedi had done the same thing.”

“So, what, we’re doing a Jedi thing?” Poe actually pushes himself a little more upright, and Finn moves to stand at his side, hands ready in case the other man tips over. “But we’re not-”

“You aren’t, I know, but either of your new friends must be Force-sensitive. Or, hell, both of ‘em could be, I guess, Luke and Leia definitely were.”

Finn blinks. “Uh.”

“And the three of you have done this before?” Poe asks. “When?”

“Endor,” Han grumbles. “Took fifteen tries before we won, and another two before Luke accepted he couldn’t save his old man’s life. How many days have you gone through so far?”

“This is...” Poe trails off. “Crap, I can’t even remember. Finn?”

“This one is our twenty-first; Rey only started repeating after we made it to Jakku, so she’s on her fifth.”

Solo lets out a low whistle. “Alright then, you’re apparently having a harder time of it than we did. Well, if you reset again, just tell me ‘Do-Over Day’ and I should go along with whatever you need.”

“Thank you, General Solo.”

“Just Han, kid.”

After that, the old smuggler goes to join Rey in the cockpit, and when Chewbacca wanders off to inspect the rest of the ship, Poe tugs Finn down to sit next to him. “Twenty-first time, huh? And we properly met on the eleventh, so if we discount the original run, that means you’ve rescued me for half of ‘em.”

“I- guess? I mean, we only went as far back as the crash the last couple of times-”

“Nah, still counts. You dug me out of that kriffing sand, after all.” Poe makes a displeased face. “Pretty sure I’ve still got plenty in all my seams, too.”

Finn snorts, and just - leans against him, carefully, mindful of the other man’s bacta-smeared injuries. It seems Poe doesn’t mind, because he wraps an arm around Finn’s shoulders, and they stay like for a while.


End file.
